Necromancy in the Fifth
by Jadiona
Summary: Bella and Edward were born fifth generation of the fifth generation necromancers and meant to be each other's soul mates, but a twist in fate separated them in the most ultimate of ways when they were still children. Now as an adult, Bella struggles to find a way to preserve both that love and that way of life. Rated M for mature themes and potentially disturbing content.
1. Preface

**Necromancy in the Fifth**

 **Disclaimer:** I am not Stephanie Meyer and therefore I do not own anything that has to do with her characters. I just enjoy perverting the hell out of them.

 **AN:** The vast majority of this story will be told in first person through the eyes of Bella, but the preface is in third for necessary purposes. I will say, this story is a first for me, I have never before written anything like this. Unlike the vast majority of my stories, this one has a more human premise to it. But, it is far from all-human, in fact depending on your opinion, the main characters of this story may not be human at all. Now with all that being said, the big warning is it does _technically_ deal in incest. Again it's how you look at the story though. This story will have an HEA for Bella and Edward, now whether or not you believe it's right... I'm going to leave that completely with you.

* * *

 **Preface**

In the little sleepy town of Forks, Washington almost the entire community was one hundred percent human. In fact there was only one blaring exception to it. That singular exception was the Swans. Charlie and Renee were fourth generation Necromancers.

Some people knew, of course, that Charlie and Renee were brother and sister – as Marie and Geoffrey had been before them, Helen and Beaufort before them, and Mercedes and Brooker in the first generation. The thing was, the sleepy town turned a blind eye to it. After all, Brooker, Beaufort, Geoffrey, and Charlie had all been chief of police at one point, while every one of the women were respectable and well loved.

And the fact was, no one could ignore that the children with every generation were normal. It was as if the fear of inbreeding which most people had, didn't exist for them.

Brooker and Mecedes had already been married when they first settled into Forks in 1879 – in fact, some claimed they were the original founders of Forks – and they had a total of nine girls and one boy over the course of the next fifteen years. Of their ten children, only their oldest daughter, born in 1881, and their son, born in 1894, were gifted with the extremely rare magic of necromancy.

The eight normal human children went on to live normal lives, some got married to people while others moved away, and at least one went on to be a hermit. Helen and Beaufort though, married each other in the year of 1912, already having had two children together before they even got married. They continued on to have another four children over the course of the next seven years. Their only son, born in 1917, and their youngest daughter, born in 1919, were the only two that were passed on the gift.

Marie and Geoffrey were perhaps the most unwilling to continue the tradition as they only had a mere two children, though it was also possible that they did have some sort of genetic defect and that was why they only had two. Their children were Charlie and Renee, born in 1964 and in 1968, respectively..

Charlie and Renee, on the other hand, were much more happy and in love. They got married the same day that Renee graduated from high school. Nine month later, in the early spring of 1987, they gave birth to their oldest daughter, Rosalie. Angela was born in 1989, Victoria in 1991, and the twins, Edward and Bella, on September 13th,1992. Then, unplanned and unexpected, Renee had a fifth daughter exactly one year after the twins by the name of Alice.

Edward and his twin sister were the ones gifted with necromancy. Not only were they gifted in necromancy though, but their talents were far stronger than any of their ancestors. In fact, Edward made contact with his first spirit when he was a barely a month old – not that he remembered it later.

As Edward grew into a young boy, he quickly rebelled against the tag-a-long twin that he was meant to spend the rest of his life with. When he was three, he broke her nose just because he could, and when he was four, he pushed her out of tree – also, just because he could. The tradition of him harming her continued in that way for the next three years.

Edward, loved all of his sisters, including his far too annoying twin, but he often felt surrounded and overwhelmed by all the girls in his life. What he didn't understand – couldn't because he was far too young – was it was his powers which made him so volatile.

…

Today, it was Edward and Bella's eighth birthday – Alice's seventh – and Edward already knew most of the gifts would be girly and the cake would be decorated with pink frosting. On top of that, there would frilly lace and streamers hung between the trees in the back yard. He absolutely _hated_ it.

"Bell, I have a surprise to show you," he exclaimed when he saw his twin come out of the room she shared with Alice.

"What?" she asked, her voice immediately wary. Frankly, she didn't trust him, not after all the times he'd harmed her.

"Come on, you'll love it," he said in sing-song voice as he turned and walked away. He knew she'd follow because she wouldn't be able to resist. She never was able to once she became curious.

He headed out the back door, ignoring all the streamers – in bright pink – that had already been hung. It took a minute, but he finally heard Bella following him.

Edward walked deep into the forest, heading off path as he did so, hearing his twin swear 'dang' and 'crap' every few feet as she continued to struggle in following him. He almost felt sorry for his twin and her inability to not trip, but for the most part, he didn't care... he was simply too irritated.

Finally he reached what he was looking for. Directly in front of him was a giant ravine in the forest, almost thirty feet deep, but he didn't care about that. What he cared about was the bees' nest hanging from the tree close to the edge. He wanted that bees' nest because Bella was allergic to them.

Once she was only a few feet away, he knelt down and picked up a rock, throwing it at the nest.

She saw what he was doing and immediately raised her hands in the air, a black glow coming from them. He couldn't even blink before dozens of what appeared to be little black missiles hit the nest and sent it careening down into the ravine. It wasn't until the little missiles stopped and slowly blinked out as they returned to their eternal rest that he realized they were actually birds.

"What have I ever done to you, brother!" Bella shouted angrily, tears running down her face as she stormed toward him.

"My life will never be normal because of you!"

"Your life? What about mine!" Bella demanded before slamming her hands into his chest – her hands still coated in the blackness of her necromancy.

The added strength from her powers sent him flying backwards and falling off the edge. Rolling down the ravine to the bottom and hitting his head on a rock so hard it killed him instantly. It was probably a better death than what would have happened without the rocks. As the bees – now extremely angry – were also down in that ravine.

* * *

 **AN:** First chapter will be set thirteen years after this. So 2013, making Bella 21. As I have many other projects, chapters will be slow


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I am not Stephanie Meyer and therefore I do not own anything that has to do with her characters. I just enjoy perverting the hell out of them.

 **Chapter 1**

I could feel him, the same way I always could, pushing at the veil to be let out – except today, the feeling was stronger than ever. It always was on the birthday we had once shared. The same day that his life had so abruptly ended, as it so happened.

I could never forget what it had felt like when I'd perverted the gift I'd been born with and used the power of all the spirits in the forest to shove Edward into the ravine. My parents both had told me again and again how it hadn't been my fault. Both Edward and I had come into our full powers at far too young. But it didn't matter how many times I was told that it had simply been a tragic mistake, because the reality was, I'd known what I was doing.

In a moment of childish rage, exasperated by the fact that he'd been trying to make bees attack me only moments prior, I'd struck him with my hands and used my gift to send him flying. In truth, I'd just wanted to hurt him the same way he had done to me many times before, but I'd felt it the instant he'd died.

And he'd remained tethered to me ever since. My parents, Renee and Charlie, were unaware of that part as I'd never shared it with them. I knew how they would feel if they ever discovered the truth. I'd heard them say again and again that it was our job as necromancers to help spirits find rest. To bind one to myself the way I had done, or perhaps he had done – I still wasn't sure on which of us controlled it – was an extreme perversion of my gift.

But Edward was my twin, my soul mate... the other half of me. In all honesty, I hadn't fully realized just how much a part of me he truly was until after he was dead. But now that I knew, I couldn't forget.

And because I knew, I wasn't about to let him go.

"Calm down, Edward, I promise I'll visit with you before the end of the day," I whispered just as I pulled up out front of my parents house for the birthday party they were having for Alice and me.

Our birthday was always bittersweet, with the ever present reminder of what had happened to Edward, but we still celebrated it. As my mother liked to say, "Birthdays are an important right of passage." And now, with Alice off at Portland University for the vast majority of every year, it was even more important.

In fact, because Alice had spent last summer in Paris, the last time I'd seen her had been Yule. Of course, that was more recent than Angie, who had moved to Los Angeles three years ago with her on-again off-again boyfriend, or Vicky, who'd been serving in the army for the last four years and hadn't bothered to come home for any of her furloughs – not that I blamed her.

Then there was Rosalie, my oldest sister and the only one besides me to stay in Forks – at least so far. I suspected it would soon be changing though, because now she had an offer I couldn't see her refusing... even if I had to push her to accept it.

Of course, the fact that I'd refused two similar offers was proof that it was possible, but it was different for me. After all, there was someone waiting for me, I just had to find a way to revive him first. The only problem with that was I wasn't sure how.

I was far stronger in my gift than my parents or any of my ancestors before them, a fact that was made obvious by my ability to call upon animal spirits as easily as I could call on human ghosts. Still, I wasn't sure if I had the power to bring Edward back to life. Something which would have been easy if he still had a body, but even if the body of Edward hadn't decomposed over the course of the last thirteen years buried in the ground, the Edward that walked with me on the other side of the veil was now a man. He'd grown as I had, changing from a young boy who was constantly annoyed by his twin, to an adolescent youth with moody opinions and dark thoughts, to the brooding teenager who desired more company than I could provide, and finally to the handsome man he was now.

I closed my eyes, shuddering slightly as I felt the barest brush of fingers against my neck.

"Be patient," I muttered under my breath. "We have to get through the birthday party first, and then I'll bring you out. You know how mom and dad would react if they realized you _hadn't_ moved on the way they think you have."

It was true, our parents had tried endlessly to summon him for months after he had died, but since he was tethered to me, he'd never appeared to them, and eventually they'd decided he must have already moved on. It had been a hard pill for my parents to swallow for more than one reason, because on top of losing their only son, it also meant the end of the necromancy line.

After they'd realized they couldn't bring back Edward, they'd tried to have another son, but they weren't successful over the course of the following eight years. Instead, they only managed to have two more girls, and their last daughter practically killed my mom to have. With no son being born, our gift would end with me, well me and Sasha

Because, ironically enough, for the first time in the last five generations of our family there was now a second female necromancer.

My two youngest siblings, Bree, now ten, and Sasha, now five, were the only two still living in my parents' home. All the rest of us had moved out and were on our own now.

I got the present out of the back of my car that I'd found for Alice, hoping she'd appreciate the item that had cost me more than a month's worth of profit from the small coffee shop I'd opened down town. I was looking forward to seeing her. She was the runt of the family, only about five inches taller than Bree – who was already four and a half feet tall.

When I reached the front door of the house I'd grown up in – too small for as many kids as grew up in it – I rang the doorbell.

The door opened almost immediately, Rosalie standing on the other side. "About time you got here, sis. I swear you're going to be late to your own funeral."

I rolled my eyes. "God, I sure hope so, at least by a few decades."

She chuckled before turning her back to me and heading into the house. "It's a good thing you broke things off with Jake. I think dad is about to have a coronary because Alice brought someone with her."

I scowled. "There was never _anything to break off_ with Jake."

She looked over her shoulder at me, arching one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows in the process. "Did he know that?"

No. In fact, he still hadn't gotten it. "Yes."

"If you say so."

Rosalie turned her head back forward as we made it to the world's second smallest laundry room – my condo had the smallest – and reached for the back door to head outside, but I reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Has Vicky called?" I knew my older sister likely would never call me after my failure, but I wanted to believe she at least called to wish Alice a happy birthday.

She sighed. "No, but it's hard to guess why. She could be deep in Kuwait and have no reception at the moment."

I didn't bother to point out that satellite phones always had a signal as I accepted I shouldn't have asked to begin with – my shoulders slumped. "We know why she didn't call."

"She doesn't blame you, Bell."

"Sure she does. Hell, I blame me. I should have been able to reach out to Anne's spirit after what happened to her. I should have been able to give her family closure. I should have been able to give _Vicky closure_."

"You know what mom and dad say, that she probably already moved on and found peace."

I didn't believe that for a second. "I've pulled others back after they found peace."

Rosalie looked at me again. "You've never been able to pull Edward back."

"Yeah." Technically, it wasn't a lie. He'd never moved on, so I'd never had to, but she didn't know that. I shook my head. "Okay. Lead on, Macduff."

"It's _lay on_ , and you know that."

"Mom's the literacy teacher, not me. Besides, I meant what I said." I spun my hand outward in a flourish.

She rolled her eyes this time and started to turn toward the door but stopped. "Oh, Angie mailed a letter and wanted me to to tell you happy birthday for her. She would have called today, but she's on some sort of soul searching mission at the moment. She's at some type of retreat that doesn't allow any technology."

"Let me guess, Ben and her broke up again."

"Yep."

I looked up at the ceiling and shook my head. "When are those two going to finally accept that they're perfect for each other and tie that damn knot?"

"You know Angie can't commit."

"And Ben doesn't understand what ring and knee action is."

Rosalie snorted before finally opening the back door.

Outside there were a ton of pink streamers and several tables set up with white tablecloths. Leah and Seth were there as well as a few of the people Alice and I had gone to high school with. I looked over the different people but didn't see a face of a guy who I didn't recognize.

"I thought you said Alice brought someone," I murmured.

"Yeah, _her_." She nodded her head at a lithe blond bombshell with plump red lips and a large bodice.

I blinked a couple of times before finally muttering under my breath, "Well, that'd do it."

Rosalie let out another snort. "Wait till you hear who she _didn't_ bring."

I arched an eyebrow at my oldest sister for a moment, waiting for an explanation, but she didn't elaborate. Finally, I shrugged and headed over to Alice.

"Bella!" She shrieked at a decibel which made me want to cringe when she noticed me heading her way, immediately racing over to me and hugging me tight. "I've missed you and you're right, those mesh pink studded Christian Louboutin pumps are going to be perfect on me. I'll absolutely love them. You've got to meet my girlfriend, Charlotte, she has lips that are absolutely to die for. I bet you'd enjoy kissing them, I know you liked it when –"

I slammed the palm of my hand over her mouth. "Shut it." Necromancy was commonplace in our family, stretching back over two dozen generations in all, but Alice was something else entirely... something different. Nearest our parents knew, she was actually the first in our family. To our knowledge, never before had there been someone with precognitive abilities. But she had them, and they were powerful – so powerful, in fact, that it scared most of the rest of us.

Alice pulled my hand from her mouth, rolling her eyes. "Fine, I won't say it. But I've got so much to tell you. I really wish I could have convinced my boyfriends to come too, though I'm pretty sure it would have given dad a stroke if Peter and Jasper had come with me –"

"Wait. What!?" At least now I knew what Rosalie had been talking about.

"I know Rosalie was gossiping to you about me." She shook her head. "It would have been better if they'd come too, Jasper especially, but he doesn't believe I'm psychic. So I'll have to save him when I get back. Probably for the best. Four-ways never actually last, they're just a faze after all. At least that's what dad is hoping. He'll be right too if things go the way I see them in my head."

I'd forgotten about her other 'talent' of being able to talk without ever seeming to have to take a breath.

"By the way, if my spirit appears to you, please don't worry. I'll actually be fine. I promise."

My hands went around her shoulders fast as I suddenly shook her. "What does that mean? Did you foresee your own death?"

Alice frowned briefly. "Not... I mean... Well... Sort of. Part of me is going to die, but I'm still ultimately going to be alive. At least if the future I'm currently tuned into comes to fruition. It'll be for the best, this gift of mine is just getting worse. I don't think it would be so bad if I was a necromancer, like you. But I'm just a normal human, I don't have the _n_ chromosome that you do. My mind isn't meant to handle the extra capacity that it takes for my gift, yet I can't turn it off. I'm pretty sure I need this future to happen or I'm fairly certain I'm going to someday end up as a drooling mess in a psyche ward.

"Besides, maybe then I won't go blabbing to the 'rents about what your planning on trying. You do realize that without a body for you to transplant him in, you're going to likely kill yourself bringing him back."

"Hush," I hissed, immediately glancing around to make sure our parents weren't too close. "At least then, the line could continue. Sure, he'd have to wait a good thirteen years before Sasha was old enough, but that's a small price to pay."

"She isn't his soul mate. You are," Alice said, dropping the light voice she had been using as she stared me down. "There's a _reason_ you've always been able to communicate with him."

I glowered at her. "Mind your own business, sister."

"The beauty of my gift, _every-damn-body_ is my business," she stated, returning to the lighter voice again. "Come on, we have presents and cake to get to."

* * *

 **AN:** Okay, I was originally going to have the whole birthday in one chapter, but this feels like a fit cutting off point. The rest of Bella's birthday will be in chapter 2, including the reintroduction of Edward, as a spirit of course.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I am not Stephanie Meyer and therefore I do not own anything that has to do with her characters. I just enjoy perverting the hell out of them.

 **Chapter 2**

The brief brush of a hand over my shoulder caused me to pause even as I stared at the stack of presents on one of the tables which mom mad diligently set up. The table was divided into two sections. The first, a reasonable amount of maybe a dozen presents in a neat little square, all but two of which were wrapped in simple striped or plaid paper – also known as the side with my presents. Meanwhile, the other had to have at least three times the presents, stacked three high with a wide range of flamboyant pinks, yellows, and oranges – Alice's side.

I was sure Edward was seeing the same thing I was, the fine arrangement of presents wasn't exactly a new experience. In fact, I knew it was part of what had set him off on our eighth birthday. It was hard to share the spotlight with the baby of the family – funny thing was she no longer was the baby, but come birthdays, it still felt like it.

"That's because _everybody_ loves me," Alice said lightly as she glanced back over her shoulder at me.

"I didn't say anything."

"But you almost did."

I rolled my eyes. Alice stuck her tongue out at me in response before she spun fully to face me and started walking backwards on the tips of her toes. "Don't be sore. The cake is your favorite," she said.

"It ought to be, I'm the one that baked it."

Alice stopped, blinking. "You did?"

"Some psychic you are." I stuck my tongue out at her this time.

She shrugged slightly. "So I don't see everything."

"Come on, we have cake and presents to get to," I mocked, mimicking her words back to her.

She narrowed her eyes slightly for a moment before sticking her tongue out again. Then she spun on her heel and marched to the table with all the gifts. I started to head over as well, but was waylaid by Bree and Sasha.

"She keeps scaring me with ghosts," Bree stated loudly, stomping her foot when she finished marching up to me.

I glanced around to make sure none of the numerous people who were in attendance had heard her. "You know not to talk about it where people can hear, Bree."

"But mom and dad don't believe me!"

"'Cause I not doing anything." Sasha stated, her lip pouting out.

I sighed. "Bree, you know mom and dad have talked about this with you."

She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting. "Why can't it be Sasha's doing?"

"It _could_. Just as it could be our parents or my doing. But it's not. And you know it."

Bree's pout grew more defined. She wasn't like Sasha and I, nor was she like Alice. Instead, Bree was special in an entirely different way. Occasionally, though it was rare, normal humans had the gift to sense, feel or sometimes even see the dead... actually, it wasn't all that rare. Of all the thousands of humans out there who pretended to be able to communicate with the dead for money, at least ten percent of them legitimately had some ability to sense them, and there were even more locked up in mental wards and the likes. But they were like Bree, they could feel them – possibly even see them – but they weren't able to hear or talk with them. The fact that Bree had been born a sensitive in _our_ family though was more than a little ironic.

The thing was, she didn't want to be sensitive, she wanted to be a normal girl.

Not that I didn't get it. I'd wanted to be a normal girl too. While Edward had embraced our powers, I'd tried to avoid them, at least I had until I'd finally had enough of his constant bullying. We'd both been kids and neither of us had understood just how volatile our gifts made us...

It was why I was so hard on Bree now. "This complaining of yours was cute when you were six. You're ten now. It's time to grow up and accept that you are special. It isn't a curse and it's not something to be afraid of." I stared my little sister down as she looked away from me.

She nodded her head slightly after a moment.

"Come on, I'm sure there's a couple presents on my side that I can share with my two favorite kid sisters."

"We're your only kid sisters," Bree pointed out

I looked over my shoulder at Alice. "I don't know _about that_."

She turned and glared at me.

Bree and Sasha both giggle before following me the rest of the table with all the gifts.

I quickly put Alice's package from me on her side of the table just as one of my old friends from school came up and sat a package down on my side.

I'd grown up with the man in front of me, almost a year older than me. He and I had been friends for a long time, but things had gotten complicated for us about the time we entered high school. He was decent to look at with messy brown hair, bright brown eyes, and a sturdy build, but I'd never been able to see him the way he saw me.

"Changed your mind yet?"

"I don't know, Mike. Are the pigs flying yet?"

He scowled at me.

I smiled widely. "How's Jess anyways?"

"Pregnant again."

"You know, for a guy that claims not to like her, you sure seem to knock her up enough." In fact, it was Jess's fourth time being pregnant since she'd turned fifteen, though I'd always suspected her oldest kid was actually Tyler's and not his.

"I never said I didn't like her," he stated defensively.

"Then why do you keep asking _me out_?"

"It's not like I'm married to her!"

I arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh, Mike, you really are hopeless."

He huffed before finally muttering, "Happy birthday, Bells."

"Thanks."

"What about my happy birthday!" Alice demanded, finally speaking up.

He looked at her stack of presents. "I think you probably got enough already." He shook his head and then headed away from us.

"I really don't see what you see in the gigolo, sis."

"It's a small town, Alice, and he's a continual patron at my little coffee shop. Besides, it's hard not to be a friend with someone who I spent every weekday with since I was in kindergarten."

"And people wonder why I escaped this town."

"I don't think anyone has ever wondered that," our mom said as she came up to us and reached out to rough up Alice's hair. "You always were too lively for our simple life."

Alice ducked. "Not the hair! I spent almost hundred dollars on product to get this perfect do!"

"Since when is spiky and pink _perfect_?" I asked.

Alice spread her arms wide as she looked around the backyard party. "Isn't it obvious that pink _loves me_?"

"By the gods, you've only been in the same backyard for a few minutes and you two are already arguing," mom said in complete exasperation.

"We are siblings, mom," I pointed out as I picked up the small box Mike had sat down. It _looked like_ a jewelry box – a necklace specifically – so my bet was it was going to be Bree's in about five more minutes.

"Aren't you going to mingle with the guests first? Get some food? Cut the cake?" mom asked, practically fretting as she shot off the questions.

"Gifts first," Alice and I said at the same time.

"JINX!" Sasha shouted.

I glared at Alice for a moment, before looking down at Sasha and pretending to zip my lips and throw away the keys.

Sasha giggled again.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye as mom shook her head. "Honestly, aren't you two too old for this game?"

We'd been raised playing it along with Slug Bug and many others. In my opinion we'd never be too old to play the games that brought up all the good memories.

"No," Alice stated loudly before slapping both hands over her mouth. "Ah, shit!"

I bit my tongue to keep from laughing before opening the present, finding a necklace case inside. I quickly lifted the lid, finding a necklace with what looked like a little aged-brass dolphin pendant on the end of a leather chain. I handed it to Bree.

"Pretty. Thanks, Bella," Bree practically squealed as she threw her arms around me.

I let out a relieved breath. "Now I can talk again."

"That isn't your full first name, Isabella."

"Whatever you say, Mary." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"EWWW!" Alice shrieked, promptly dropping the package she was holding as she slapped her hands over her ears.

The package fell to the ground.

To everyone, even our parents, Alice was just Alice. Though in truth, by birth, her name was actually Mary Alice Brandon Divinity Swan – that's right, our parents had given her a total of _five_ names. I didn't know the full story, but understood that it had been the only way to get some spirit Mom and Dad had been communicating with to move on.

She was just lucky I hadn't called her Brandon because _no one_ called me Isabella.

"Can we get back to our presents now?" I asked just as Sasha picked the wrapped package off the ground that Alice had dropped.

Alice's eyes widened slightly, snatching it out of our youngest sister's hands. "This isn't for you. You can have –" she looked over the packages before reaching over and plucking one from my meager section and handing it to her "– this one."

"Honestly, Alice, one of mine?"

"You were going to give it to her anyways."

I rubbed my fingers over my eyelids in exasperation before forcing it to roll off my back. "Okay, let's get to it."

…

Three hours, eleven gifts, food which had clearly been cooked by Rosalie – my parents couldn't cook that well – the cake I made, and far too much conversation later and the party was finally over. Alice's and my friends had all gone home, and all that was left were the goodbyes.

Alice, who'd spent the last hour sitting in Charlotte's lap – much to our parents' annoyance – headed over to me. She handed me a wrapped box. "Don't open it now. You'll know when you need to."

"I'm not the psychic, Alice. You are."

"Trust me, you'll know. Charlotte and I need to get going, but I'll see you again soon. Don't worry about me."

"It's my job to worry about my little sisters."

"No, that's Rosalie's job." She stuck out her tongue briefly as she scrunched up her nose before spinning away and returning to Charlotte.

I shook my head and stuffed the unopened present in my bag, then I went towards the door so I could get going. I'd stay and offer my mom help cleaning up, but I knew she'd be offended if I did. Besides, I needed to catch up to Rosalie before she left for the night.

I just managed to escape from the house before my dad reached me. He'd been looking at me suspiciously the entire party and I'd worried he'd sensed Edward near me – or technically someone as he wouldn't know who it was specifically. It had always been a problem, because though my dad wasn't a fifth generation like Sasha, Edward, and I, he was a guy. And men were more talented than women. My dad was easily twice as strong as my mother when it came to his gift, which was still nowhere near as strong as me.

I raced across the drive and quickly down the street to where Rosalie was just about to get in her car. "Rose!" I shouted to get her attention.

She scowled slightly at me as she stopped and turned to look at me. "What?"

"Are you going to accept Emmett's proposal?"

Her scowl grew more defined. "Perhaps if he was staying here. But he wants to go back to his family. My family's here."

"You should go with him, sis. You deserve a chance at happiness. Bree and Sasha will be fine with our parents and my help. Vicky, Angie, and Alice have moved on. It's past time you do it."

"And what about you? What about your future? You're still here running that little coffee shop and barely making ends meet. You've refused both Jacob and Mike's offers to even _date_. When is it your turn to be happy?"

"I ruined my future when I was eight, Rose. There's no normal man who will ever understand what I'm capable of."

"Jacob wasn't normal," she pointed out.

"You're right. Of any of the people who has ever expressed interest in me, if I was to consider dating one of them, he'd be the most realistic as he has a very personal knowledge of the supernatural. But I'm not his other half, and someday he will find that person. So there's no lasting relationship there for me even if I wanted it. But I don't. He isn't my other half anymore than I am his." What I couldn't explain to my big sister was how even I did want that relationship, I wouldn't be able to do it. With Edward always connected to me, the whole voyeur aspect it would lead to would be all kinds of uncomfortable.

"You're other half is _dead and gone_ , Bella, if you truly believe in that necromancer relationship stuff. Personally, I find it to be disturbing bullshit."

She'd never been all that enthused by the fact that our necromancer ancestors had all married and bred within the family. But it was how our powers were passed on, as they'd been for as far back as we could trace. Besides, she was perfectly normal so I didn't see what right she had to complain.

I sighed. I couldn't tell her about Edward being with me still even if I wanted to, couldn't tell her my plans, because if I did I knew she definitely wouldn't leave. "I know he's dead. Perhaps it's for the best. Perhaps it's time necromancy died out."

"Just because the gene dies out, doesn't mean you can't have a normal life – marry some normal human and have normal babies. You can't honestly tell me you'd want to be strapped to him for the next fifty to sixty years, or however long you'll live. I _remember_ how you two always got in fights."

"We were kids, Rose. And I didn't understand how important he was to me until after he was dead. But I've made my peace with it. I'm satisfied running my coffee shop, being a necromancer, and just living a simple day to day life. But I'm not you. You've never been small town, not really. You have huge dreams, Rose. You'll never be able to make them come to fruition in Forks. Plus, you love him. So go, be happy. Have the big brother-in-laws, the dream wedding, the silver platter. It's right in front of you. Don't let it pass you by... and certainly not for me."

"And what about mom and dad? Neither of them are spring chickens anymore. How many more years can dad be the chief of police? He's already forty-nine."

"Tyler is going to make a fine police chief when dad retires, you know that. And don't even consider suggesting you go into the business, dad would _kill you_. Besides, I'd make a better cop than you, anyways. At least I can shoot."

"I could learn," she muttered.

"Hand to eye coordination is not exactly a teachable skill, Rose. Tell me this, if Emmett leaves and you stay here, will there ever be another Emmett for you?"

Her foot scuffed against the ground as she looked away, not answering.

"Then you have your answer. The heart knows, even when the mind is being stubborn. Follow it and say yes to him. See my reality of the fact that I'll never have such an experience and learn from it, don't waste it."

"I'll go if you start dating someone, I don't care who."

I opened my mouth to tell her it wasn't ever going to happen, but felt the slightest pressure against the back of my neck. I shuddered slightly as I spoke without wanting to. "I'll think about it."

"Good, now I got to get home. We'll talk later, okay?" She got in her car before I could reply.

…

I dropped the bag of presents on the floor the instant I got to my little apartment situated above my coffee shop.

Closing my eyes, I centered myself, feeling the energy flowing around me. I pulled it to me and when my eyes snapped open my hands and arms were coated in a thin sheen of darkness – a shade so pure it was more like an abyss than what most considered when they thought of the color black. I lifted my hands, "Edward."

He was in front of me instantly. He was a couple inches taller than me with wavy golden-brown hair and bright green eyes. His body was covered in the wisps of shadows, making it appear almost as if he was wearing clothes, but I knew if I brought more power to bear he'd be as naked as the day he was born.

"What right do you have to manipulate my answers, Edward!"

"Your stubbornness would have made her be determined to stay. She needs to move on. We both know that." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Especially as long as you're determined to keep me a secret."

"We both know why our family can't know you're still here until I've managed to revive you. It'd be a little disturbing for them to realize you've grown up the same as me. You should still be eight."

"There's no guarantee I'm not, Bella. It's not exactly an exact science, after all."

"You latched yourself onto my life force, Edward, using my energy to grow along with me. You're twenty-one just like I am. And if our parents figure it out before I find out how to bring you back than their going to force me to sever this connection. We both know it."

"I heard what Ali said to you, she said doing it without a body would probably kill you. I don't want that."

"She's been wrong before."

"Not very often."

I didn't want to have this argument so I walked around him and over to my mirror, forcing myself not to flinch at my own reflection. I'd seen myself many times when I held onto the magic, but it got no less disturbing. My hair was coated in the same darkness as my hands and arms, shadowy tendrils reached up my legs practically to my waist, and my eyes were completely oblique. Edward walked up beside me.

"I wish I could touch you again. It can be amazingly lonely stuck in this in-between," he murmured, his voice more subdued.

"You will, Edward. We'll figure out how to bring you back. You'll have a chance to live, I promise."


	4. Chapter 3

****Disclaimer:**** I am not Stephanie Meyer and therefore I do not own anything that has to do with her characters. I just enjoy perverting the hell out of them.

 ** **Chapter 3****

I pulled the extra batch of biscotti out of the oven and sat the tray on the cooling rack before heading out of the kitchen and into my small coffee shop, preparing to open for the day. I'd owned the coffee shop for just over two years now, and the daily start-up still left me feeling like a zombie.

I hoped that, someday in the future, I'd be able to afford to hire an employee, but so far it was only me. I simply couldn't afford to. The truth was, if I even paid myself minimum wage at the moment, I wouldn't make ends meet. The upkeep on my small coffee shop was high – far higher than I'd expected it to be when I'd dared to make the place a reality – and at the end of every month, I was barely keeping the place in the black.

I wasn't one to complain though, businesses took time to get started and made profitable... If I had to survive on Top Ramen alone until then, well so be it.

But, the start of every morning was still a pain – having to wake up at three in the morning so I could get everything baked for the day, including cookies, blondies, muffins, scones, bars, cinnamon rolls, and biscottis. It made for a long morning every day, and that was before I got the simple drip coffee going or opened the doors for the day.

I washed my hands and then headed out to the front, loading the four coffee machines which were for decaf, dark, medium, and light brews. The light one was sometimes referred to as a breakfast brew, which I'd never understood – after all, I practically needed espresso straight to keep my eyes open in the morning.

Once all the drips were running, I double checked everything, making sure all my baked goods were priced, and the coffee boards weren't messed up. Though I'd never figured out how as I was the only one who worked at my coffee shop, every once and awhile the signs for my price were just randomly messed up when I started to work.

I'd blame Edward, but he could never get far enough from me in order to mess them up. Besides, he wasn't a malicious spirit. I ought to know, I'd met my fair share of them.

Sighing, I did another quick glance around and then unlocked the front door to my shop exactly five minutes before my opening time of six. Then I proceeded to head around the counter to wait behind it for my first customer.

…

Only four hours in and it was already a slow day. So far, there'd only been sixteen customers – eleven of which had come in around seven on their way to school. The lack of customers was the hardest part for me as it made making ends meet almost impossible.

The bell on the door rang, and I looked over, smiling widely when I spotted Jake with his little sis. Of course, he came in most days, but seeing his little sister was far more rare for me. "Jules, what are you doing here with your big bro?"

"Parents want a 'rent day. Whatever that means."

I arched an eyebrow at Jake, and he mouthed, 'sex.'

I snickered slightly. "Well, what would you like to drink, Jules?"

Jules looked over the menu board as I asked Jake, "How are Sarah and Billy?"

"They're doing good, though the doctors are talking about the fact that Billy may lose his left foot, maybe even his entire leg up to his knee."

My brows furrowed. "Gangrene?"

"Not yet, but it's heading that way. The years of his diabetes are taking its toll."

"What's he had to say about it?"

"He's adamantly against the idea, of course."

"Can I have a caramel frap?" Jules added in, glancing toward me.

"No espresso," Jake said immediately.

"Then it's a shake," I pointed out.

"I don't care. You don't have to monitor the eleven-year-old brat for the day. I do. And she'll be bad enough hyped up on sugar without adding a caffeine high to the mix."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

I turned to make the make drink, barely noticing as Jake swiped two of my biscottis and handing one to his little sister.

"You're going to pay for those, right?" I asked as I finished prepping Jules drink, topping it off with whip cream and a striping of caramel sauce before turning back to her.

"Ummmm," Jake started.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again. "Let me guess. You forgot your money at home again."

"Possibly." He looked away.

"Mooch," I grumbled playfully. When we were younger, I'd have reached out and messed up his hair, but that was hard to do anymore with the fact that he was over a foot taller than me.

"Hey, I always get you paid... eventually."

"My eye roll reflex is running out of patience, Jake."

He chuckled. "How was your birthday?"

"It was long. You should have come though, Alice came home, and she brought someone with her."

"She finally got a boyfriend?"

"A girlfriend, actually... and two boyfriends she didn't bring with her."

"And your dad actually let her go back to school?"

"She's an adult, he can't exactly stop her."

"Have you forgotten that I've seen and felt what you can do?"

I flinched slightly at the memory his words brought up. It had been five years since our one and only date and I still wasn't sure if it had been my decision, or the spirit of Edward, that had caused me to attack him with the ghost of a bear at the end when he'd kissed me.

Of course, that had also been when I'd found out he was a shape-shifter and could turn into a giant wolf.

"I'm more powerful than my father, more powerful than any of my ancestors, truthfully." The only one who'd been stronger was Edward, and possibly any male cousin across the pond in the same generation as me, but I wasn't even familiar with any of my European relatives, though I knew there were some.

He glanced toward his little sister for a moment before looking back to me. "That still doesn't make sense to me."

"It's how our gift is passed down. I'm sure our line dates back thousands of years, but we can only trace back twenty-four generations behind mine. Our magic gradually weakens over the course of every four generations, and then becomes exponentially more powerful on the fifth. Since I'm the fifth, fifth generation, I'm the most powerful necromancer on this side of the world. The only people who'd be more powerful would be my brother if he were still alive and any male cousins I have in Europe in this same generation."

"What kind of magic? It isn't like ours. Our skips a generation." Jules looked up at me in curiosity.

"We're not supposed to talk about our powers, Jules. You know that." Jake scolded immediately.

"But she's talking about hers." She stuck her lip out in a pout.

I focused on her. "That's because your big brother is an idiot and wanted to talk about my gift in front of you. Don't worry about my gift though as it's not something you need to be concerned about. But he's right. Your gift, like mine, is sacred, and shouldn't be spoke of openly. There are a lot of normal humans in this world who would either fear you and try to kill you as a result, or possibly be dangerously intrigued by you and want to experiment on you."

"But I want to know."

I looked at Jake, and he shrugged slightly.

"Trust me, sis, you definitely don't. What she does is freaky."

I narrowed my eyes at him, barely resisting the urge to say, 'And what you do, isn't?' in the most scathing voice possible.

Jules crossed her arms over her chest, still clutching her drink in one hand, as she stomped her foot.

Jake sighed. "We better get going if we're going to make it to Seattle and back today."

"Where are you going to in Seattle?"

"The brat wants to see the zoo."

"And you're going to get in while you forgot your money at home, how?"

Jake looked around all of a sudden. "Uh, gotta go." He took Jules arm in his hand as he quickly left.

I shook my head.

…

The rest of my day was just as the first four hours had been. Slow. But once the day was over, I shut the shop down, dumped the remaining coffee from the pots, cleaned the tables and floor, and loaded the dishwasher.

Finally, I carefully packed the leftover goodies in four different boxes. The first was to go to the police station, the second to my parents and little sisters, the third to the local fire department, and the fourth I'd keep for myself.

Once they were packed, I headed out to my car and got in with my packages so I could deliver them.

I drove through town, stopping briefly at both the fire department and the police station to drop those off, but drove past my parents' house and straight to the edge of town, not parking until I got to the town graveyard.

Getting out, I looked around to make sure I was alone before walking down the path and straight to the section where my ancestors were buried.

I closed my eyes for a moment, centering myself and feeling the earth around me, scenting the natural smells of decay and rot in the air before I slowly raised my hands toward the sky, feeling the power flowing out of my fingers.

At first, the air was deathly silent, not even any crickets or birds sounding, but I continued to wait with my head bowed slightly.

"Why did you summon me?" a voice snapped angrily without any warning.

My eyes snapped open to look at the elderly woman with wrinkles, narrowed eyes, and almost white hair.

* * *

 **AN:** I'm still working out the flow of this story so I apologize that the chapter wasn't longer. My hope is that once I know more of the details of how this story will fully go, the average chapter will be about 3k or so. But for now, this chapter contained important info... and stopping here was necessary because I'm evil like that.


	5. Chapter 4

****Disclaimer:**** I am not Stephanie Meyer and therefore I do not own anything that has to do with her characters. I just enjoy perverting the hell out of them.

 ** **Chapter 4****

"Mercedes," I said in way of greeting, staring at the old hag – and I knew that was a nasty thing to think of my ancestor, but she truly gave a bad name to necromancy... Then again, that was why I was seeking out her help.

"I was surprised to feel you reach out to me. What's this about?"

I forced myself to keep my eyes on her face, ignoring everything else. It was hardly my first time seeing an old naked person – I'd even seen her when I'd summoned her before – but there were some things I simply had no desire to look at.

"I need your help," I said softly.

"And what kind of help do you need?" She narrowed her eyes in a shrewd enough way to tell me that she probably already knew.

"My brother, my twin, has been dead for some time now. I have access to his spirit, though. The thing is, his body, the one he had when was alive, will be nothing more than bones at this point. On top of that, what's left of the body is that of a boy, and his spirit... isn't."

Her eyebrows arched practically to her receded hairline, even as her hands landed on her hips. The motion caused me to briefly glance down her withered body, seeing her wrinkly and sagging breasts, as well as the folds of shriveled skin where there used to be considerable body fat.

I barely resisted shuddering aloud as I forced my eyes back to hers.

"If his spirit is not the same age as when he died, then you've been a very naughty girl, indeed." She paused, clearly waiting on a response. But when I refused to meet her gambit, she continued, "Haven't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I barely resisted the urge to cross my arms over my chest.

"Oh? But I think you do. Because if you didn't, you'd ask your parents for help. Soul attachment is dangerous and extremely dark magic." She stepped close to me.

"He's my bound other half, in every meaning of the word, I think our souls were always attached."

Mercedes didn't say anything to me for several seconds before cackling loudly – and it was a cackle, there was nothing like a laugh involved with it.

"Perhaps you're right, in the most basic of way, anyways. But it doesn't work to the depth that it would take for him to age with. That's a spirit spell. Almost no magic is darker. Of course, given you're the girl that killed your bound sibling in cold blood... Well, it's little surprise."

"That was _an accident_ ," I snarled.

"You may have convinced your parents of that – and perhaps you even believe it yourself – but you knew what you were doing. Somewhere, in the back of your mind, you knew. We both know you did."

I scowled.

Mercedes smiled – or at least gave her impression of one – and I wasn't able to stop myself from shuddering.

"So, you wish to revive him now? Realized his value, have you?"

"I love him. Of course, I want him back."

"If you love him, why'd you kill him?" she replied.

I opened my mouth to argue but then shook my head. I wasn't going to get into it with her. "Never mind. Obviously, you aren't going to help."

I raised my hand in the air to grasp enough power in my hand to make her return from whence she came, but her voice stopped me.

"Wait. You'll need a male body. But if your goal is to pass on the gene, it can't be a human body."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know your oldest human sister always finds our nature to be disturbing – how we mate with our own blood, but there's a reason we do that. We are _not human_. I'm sure you have suspected as much."

"I know necromancers have a mutated chromosome, if that's what you mean."

Mercedes looked at me in a way that suggested I was being dumb. "I'm talking about something that isn't quantifiable by science, foolish child. We are magical beings. And the history of necromancy dates back thousands of years, back to the days of drylic. If you want to retain his magic, continue our line, then you must find the body of something else that is _magic_. Humans do not have magic, though a few, like your human sister, Bree, can sense it."

"What is _drylic?_ " I demanded. I knew the old crone had been loony, but I was starting to suspect she was crazier than I realized.

"It's magic, pure magic. Magic that was brought to this realm by others, fae and such."

"Fairies aren't real."

"Of course they are. They just don't live on this plane."

I glared at her, feeling the power that I'd used to summon her pulsing under my skin, my anger fueling my strength. It would be easy – so very easy – to use the power to rip her very soul from the ether.

And in that instant, I wanted to more than anything.

The slightest brush of energy on my shoulder made me pause long enough to take a deep breath, slowly releasing it along with the excess power running through me even as I started to realize just what I was capable of.

"Explain," I said through gritted teeth.

"As necromancers, we understand death. So you know there are seven planes for the dead. Each plane contains different spirits. And you, as powerful as you are, have access to most of those planes. It's more than I had access to in my day. But there are also seven planes of the living. One of those planes is where the drylic came from. Whether you choose to believe in fae or not, _believe this_ , because it is absolute truth. At one point, the rifts between planes were more accessible than they are now. That brought forth the power surge which allows not only our existence but many other sentient creatures as well. Any being that already has magic running through them should be able to contain his spirit and his gift."

"And just where am I going to find a body of a magical being?"

"You could try starting with those that are from La Push. Whispers in the wind tell me one is even smitten with you. It would be only all too easy to stab the beast in the back."

"Never," I snarled the word, raising my hands in the air and then crossing them, using my rage to send Mercedes' spirit back to where I'd pulled it from.

I spun, leaving the graveyard behind.

…

Once I got back to my apartment, I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and centering myself as I drew on the magic that was already thrumming close to surface.

When I opened my eyes, Edward was in front of me.

"So that's it then," he said softly.

"What's it?" I suspected I knew what he was talking about, but I chose to play dumb.

"You heard what Mercedes said. It's going to take the body of something supernatural to put me in. Something as supernatural as you are. And even if you were willing to kill one of the La Push boys, I wouldn't let you. More than one of them has a mate already, and most that don't are children. And there aren't any other supernatural beings in this area. It's over."

"Mercedes is a crazy old hag... Not to mention dead. What's to even say she told the truth?"

"She's also our ancestor, and she knows necromancy in ways our parents don't. In ways you don't."

"That doesn't mean she knows everything. I have five other dead ancestors I can try."

"There's a reason you went to her, to begin with, and we both know it."

Several reasons, actually. The first being that she knew more about the craft than any of our other ancestors – at least of the ones I had access to. Second, because she wouldn't tattle on me to my parents even if she could. And of course, in third, she couldn't tell on me because I was the only one strong enough to pull her as her soul was stuck in purgatory rather than one of the other planes.

"She's wrong, though. I'm stronger than she thinks." I extended my hands toward him, palms out.

He looked between my hands and face in suspicion for several seconds, not making any other movement.

"Trust me," I murmured.

It took him several more seconds, but finally, he placed his hands on top of mine. I could feel him, the brush of air that made up his ghost, touching my skin. But it wasn't something most understood. It was why sensitive humans described things like cold spots and flutters. They were really feeling a ghost trying to reach out to them.

I closed my eyes, bringing more power to bear and focusing it on his skin and feeling his hands solidify above mine.

It took him a second realize what I was doing, but when he did, he gasped and his fingers suddenly wrapped around my hands.

"How... How are you doing this?"

I opened my eyes, looking at Edward in front of me. The last time I'd been able to see him whole, he'd been a child, lying dead in a ravine with his neck twisted at an angle that shouldn't have been possible – even with the broken neck.

But now, as long as I kept the power flowing, he was there, and as more than just a spirit.

Because now, I could physically see the hard planes of his skin; his defined cheekbones, his chiseled jaw, the soft golden-brown locks of his wavy hairs, toned muscles, a tapered waist, and so much more.

It was the man he would have become if he hadn't died so young.

"My power allows me to draw the matter of a spirit from one plane to this one. In the same way I am able to rip that matter apart if I so desire –" A fact that I'd only just fully realized tonight, when I'd felt the power rise up to allow me to do so as my ancestor had pissed me off "– and in that same way, I'm able to use my power to make you corporal."

"How'd you figure this out?"

I shrugged slightly, blinking away the dizziness that suddenly hit me. "It sort of came to me when I realized I could essentially destroy Mercedes with my gift. Or more specifically, when you stopped me. I mean, part of me has always known I had the capability to atomize the spirit... It was there even as a child. I know you felt it too, the darkness inside both of us. We were both always angry, using each other as punching bags so as to express a power that we didn't understand and weren't ready for."

"I definitely felt the power, that much is true. But you never hit me back. Well, not until..." Edward shook his head and smiled slightly. "It doesn't matter now. How long can you keep me corporal?"

He leaned his forehead against mine, and I closed my eyes, giving in to the exhaustion even as I wished the sensation would last forever. But I stepped back when the smoothness of his skin started to feel closer to air again.

"As long as I can keep my..." I shook my head as everything blurred slightly. "Keep my focus."

I could still feel his skin on mine, but my sight was shaky.

"Are you alright, Bella?" His voice was alarmed.

My legs gave out before I could answer, and I fell to the floor as Edward disappeared before my eyes.


	6. Chapter 5

****Disclaimer:**** I am not Stephanie Meyer and therefore I do not own anything that has to do with her characters. I just enjoy perverting the hell out of them.

 ** **Chapter 5****

I wasn't sure how long I was unconscious before the sound of knocking on my door woke me. Groaning, I slowly got up off the floor.

"I'm coming," I shouted, or at least tried to, as my voice came out more like a hoarse croak.

It took me close to a minute to make it the few feet that it was to my door. I fussed with the lock as my fingers didn't seem to want to work, before finally managing to successfully open it.

I opened my mouth upon seeing Rosalie on the other side, but she gasped.

"Bella, what the hell happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's dried blood on your face."

I frowned before spinning around and heading to my bathroom. My reflection in the mirror looked nothing like me. Instead, the wide eyes that stared at the stained splotches of brownish-red splattered across my cheeks, lips, chin, and down my neck were horrified. The reflection also showed skin that was at least two shades too white, rings under the eyes, and unnatural sallowness to the cheeks.

For a moment, I couldn't make sense of what I was looking at. Then I grabbed a rag, turned the sink on, and soaked it. The instant it was solidly drenched, I started scrubbing on my face, forcing a redness into my skin even as I washed off the stains of blood.

"Seriously, sis, what the fuck is going on? There's enough blood on your living room carpet that a person might think someone died out there."

I sighed, setting my rag on the counter before I turned to look at Rosalie.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure what happened, okay?"

"How do you not know? There's no way you could have bled like that and not felt it."

I looked away from her prying eyes. "I was talking to the dead last night, and I decided to see if I could bring enough magic to bear so I could touch the ghost. I remember getting lightheaded... and then I'm guessing I lost consciousness."

Rosalie stared at me in more than mild horror for several seconds before she finally managed to splutter, "And just who the hell were you talking to that you would take such a risk?"

"No one important," I said immediately.

"You're telling me you used enough power that it _almost killed you_ for _no one_? What the fuck? WHY?"

I flinched. "Look, I don't think it's that bad. You're making a big deal out of nothing. Aside from being a little achy this morning, thanks to spending the night on the floor, I'm fine."

"Out of nothing? OUT OF NOTHING!" She grabbed me by the arm and yanked me into the main space of my apartment, spinning me to look at the living room. "Does that look like nothing to you!"

I looked down at the living room carpet, seeing the dark stain of blood for the first time. I swallowed. "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to replace my carpet."

"Don't even make a joke about this. Now tell me who you tried to kill yourself over."

I sighed. "I was talking to Edward, alright?"

The instant it was out of my mouth, I regretted it, but for the first time since Edward had died, there was no sense in the back of my head telling me to keep my mouth shut. Something was different. It took me a moment to realize that the difference was the gaping hole in my psyche – the hole that was normally plugged because I could _always_ sense him.

"What do you mean you were talking to Edward? How? Since when?"

"I've always been able to communicate with him, Rose," I said as I turned and headed back into my bathroom, grabbing my bath towel from the towel rack and soaking it in cold water.

I didn't need to look in the mirror to know my big sister was right behind me. She was close enough that I could feel her.

"What do you mean you've always been able to communicate with him? Why on earth have you never mentioned this before? How do our parents not know this? How was I not aware of this? Just _what_ is going on here?"

I shook my head in exasperation as I took the sopping wet towel, passed her, and headed back to the living room to drop it on the bloody carpet. Then I took the two more steps necessary to sink onto my couch.

"I killed him using my necromancy, Rose. It tied his spirit to mine. That's why mom and dad have never been able to contact him. It's not because he found peace, as our parents assumed. Instead, he's tied solely to me."

"You created a splinter plane. That's dark magic, Bella – some of the blackest that there is. And the fact that you've been keeping it a secret means you damn well know it."

"There are those who claim any form of necromancy is black."

"We know better, but what you're talking about..." Rosalie broke off, swallowing hard. "Bella, tell me you didn't do it on purpose."

"Which part? The killing him? The linking my soul with his? The refusing to let him go? Or, and this is my favorite one, the never telling my parents or any of my older siblings?"

"I'd say all of them, but I have the sinking suspicion based on the fact that you were able to make a list that the answer is you did it _all_ on purpose."

I looked at my big sister. "No, I didn't, at least not in the front of my head. But you were there when Edward used to push me around. You probably remember the broken bones, black eyes, and bruises better than even I do. He and I did not get along. So, on some level, when I pushed him with everything I had – which includes my powers – did I want it to end in the result that it did?" I stopped talking as I stared Rosalie in the eyes.

Finally, after several moments with no reply from her, I lifted my shoulders ever so slightly. "Maybe. I don't know. I've asked myself that question more than a million times, and I still don't have the answer. As for the rest... I was eight, I didn't even _know_ it was possible to connect his soul with mine in such a way. The thing is, I was scared, and by the time I started seriously contemplating talking to mom and dad, I was too ashamed to admit it."

"And you aren't going to tell them now, are you?"

"It's been _thirteen years_. Can you imagine how dad would react? How _mom_ would? No, I can't tell them, at least not until I find a way to bring him back. Once I can find a way to revive him so that he's actually alive and well, then... Then I can tell them. Because then even if they decide to punish me, the necromancy can still continue. It'll be a few years before Sasha's old enough, but that's a minimal issue."

Rosalie leaned against my rickety end table as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You think mom and dad will kill you?"

"It's what Helen and Beaufort did to Mercedes, and you know the history of our ancestors as well as I do. We police our own. We _have to_. Can you imagine what the government would do if they knew that beings like necromancers existed? Besides, once someone starts dabbling in black magic, the urge is always there. What did you just call what I did?" I gave her a couple of seconds, but she remained stonily silent. "The blackest there is, I do believe."

"I'm not a necromancer, Bella, so I don't know what I'm talking about. You can't use my words against me."

"Fine, I spoke with Mercedes yesterday evening. She called what I did spirit magic, and proceeded to imply that it was quite dark. She _is_ a necromancer, or at least was one when she was alive."

"As you just pointed out, she's not necessarily the most reliable source given that our great-grandparents were forced to put her down when she went crazy. It was my understanding they even forced her soul to an alternate plane so she could never find peace with Brooker."

"They did. Not that it stops me from communicating with her."

"Bella, I'm not going to allow our parents to put you down just because you did something by accident as a kid."

I pointedly looked at her. "Bringing him back won't be by accident."

"Mom and dad have helped to revive a couple of people in their day, they won't –"

"Yes, they gave a child or two who died before their time a second chance at life, but that was within hours of their death. It's not the same. I'm either going to need a freshly dead body to stuff his soul into – a non-human body, as Mercedes has informed me – or I'm going to need to find a way to bring enough magic forward to fully structure a physical body. The first would probably mean I'd have to kill whoever I used, and after last night's experiment, I'm not sure I have the power to do the second."

Rosalie frowned, opening her mouth briefly before shutting it without saying anything.

"Of course, that's assuming I can even still communicate with Edward," I muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't sense him, currently. I've never not been able to sense him."

"What? Why?"

"I'm assuming I've short-circuited my gift by trying to do too much last night. At least, that's what I'm hoping. Still, I'm worried."

"Okay, so last night, you used your power to do what with him, precisely?"

"I used my gift to make him corporal. He's always with me, you see, so he heard when Mercedes told me what it would take for me to bring him back. He wanted me to give up. The idea of me murdering someone was appalling to him. He said he wouldn't let me become a killer. So I tried to show him that there was another way. Ironically, I think if he was alive, he and I together would probably be able to come up with enough power to do what I was trying."

Rosalie frowned. "You're not a murderer. You know that, right?"

"Aren't I?"


End file.
